How to Build a Purpose-Diven Office

These days, creating an effective office space isn’t easy.

After the pandemic threw unprecedented challenges into the mix, businesses have had to adapt accordingly over the last few years.

For some, numerous ad-hoc tweaks have led to areas of redundant or ineffective space. The changes may have also resulted in businesses losing sight of their office’s fundamental purpose.

Therefore, it’s always good to step back every now and then to reassess amidst this post-COVID chaos.

Creating a Purpose-Driven Workspace

When assessing the effectiveness of your workplace, it’s important to ask, “what should our office achieve?” rather than the oversimplified “what should our office look like?”

This will give you an overarching goal which, in turn, will help you make more informed decisions on furniture, layout design, aesthetics and more.

Once you know what you want to achieve, you can design your office for longevity.

Where to Start?

So, how do you define your goal? We recommend starting with a workplace and employee assessment.

Space auditing and stakeholder surveys can be a key part of this process. Here’s an overview:

• Space Auditing – To carry out a straightforward audit, you can simply observe what is working and what is not. Are there any underused or overcrowded spaces? Does the design support collaborative and focused work? Is the space noisy and distracting? Sometimes, the solution lies in the problem.
• Stakeholder Surveys – Putting people at the heart of your office design is a great strategy, so consider consulting the opinions of employees via surveys and questionnaires. This will identify design preferences and pain points that prevent them from doing their best work.

Note that you can also carry out assessments with the help of occupancy sensors, which give insights into how efficient your space is operating. For example, if your meeting room is identified as a high usage space (or ‘hotspot’), this could suggest the need for more quiet collaboration areas.

Related content: How to Improve Employee Wellbeing – According to Employees

Using Workplace Design Consultants

After you’ve identified some key issues and objectives yourself, it’s a good idea to get help from office interior designers. They will help refine your goals before creating a design concept to unlock your office’s full potential.

As you’ve probably gathered by now, you stand a better chance of creating an efficient office space if you design with intent. Office designers will help by making intelligent design decisions that feed into the overarching objectives.

For example, you may want a more collaborative workspace, which will require very specific layout and furniture choices. They will even break this down into individual work zones, ensuring every area is literally fit for purpose.

Let’s look at some examples…

Some Office Design Examples

Here are some examples of purpose-driven offices to give you some food for thought:

Ward Security, Kent

Based in Kent, Ward Security wanted to create a high-performance workspace while fostering a team-oriented culture.

This meant creating a main office workspace and a separate breakout floor to serve as a community area, ensuring Ward got the best of both worlds.

As shown in the pictures above, the office area comprises the following:

• A departmental setup with shared desks to serve as anchor points for teams
• A dedicated reception area with a ‘levitation’ effect desk to set a professional tone
• Multiple meeting rooms where different departments can come together for collaboration
• Soft seating for shorter, impromptu meetings
• An additional boardroom to offer a more private meeting setting

Separately, our Kent interior designers created a breakout floor / community space with the following features:

• Bleacher seating to host events and group gatherings, helping to strengthen the community spirit
• Food prep area and an adjoining dining space where employees can come together when eating
• Sofas and benches for additional shared seating options, further strengthening community cohesion
• A dedicated laptop lounge for an alternative workspace in a more relaxed setting

Similarly, Albion Fine Foods wanted a dedicated community and catering area for its space in Dartford. See the Albion Fine Foods design here.

Hudl, London

Sports data company Hudl wanted a high-tech office that reflected its unique brand and supported specific tasks.

This meant creating a sports-themed workspace design and devising an ‘agile’ layout with multiple work zones for specific activities.

Key features include:

• Hotdesking area with height-adjustable desks for individual work
• Multiple impromptu collaboration areas, including group tables, lounges and booths
• A selection of acoustic pods for video calls and focused laptop work
• Bookable meeting rooms (named after sporting legends) for in-office collaboration in a private setting
• A fitting sport-themed aesthetic, with a football badge graffiti mural being a highlight
• Breakout area with a ping pong table and dartboard, continuing the sports theme

While employees have a flexible working option, the stunning office design means it offers more than the home. This has meant office attendance has soared and productivity has remained high.

Corporate Insurance Company, Kent

This client wanted to maintain a traditional layout while offering additional spaces for quiet work.

Key features include:

• A traditional setup with banks of desks so employees in specific departments can work closely together
• Acoustic booths integrated into the main office space, offering private work spaces and alternative settings for business calls and video chats
• A coffee-shop style laptop area with additional high-back seating for solo work
• An operable (or ‘sliding’) wall that can create two meeting rooms or one larger open space for larger regional meetings
• Multiple boardrooms with acoustic properties for important corporate meetings
• A breakout area with leaf-shaped acoustic hanging feature to further reduce noise pollution in the office and divide the space

Aesthetically, our client went for a traditional design marked by its dark blue corporate brand colours, making for an eye-catching but conservative design.

How to Create a Purpose-Driven Office – Conclusion

The examples given in this article highlight the importance of starting with a clear, well-defined goal. In doing so, you can design for longevity and ensure your office aligns with the ambitions for the business.

The companies referenced above have also put people at the heart of their office designs. From Ward’s stunning community area to Hudl’s selection of work zones, the employees have a reason to commute into the office rather than working from home.

So, if you can identify key objectives early on and create an employee-centric space, you will undoubtedly be on course to design a successful space. That’s the best way to get the most value out of your office design.

Get in Touch with Rap Interiors – London Interior Design Company

Do you think it’s time to reassess the purpose of your workspace? If so, allow us to help. Rap Interiors has 30+ years’ experience transforming offices, creating purpose-led spaces that help businesses prosper.

To book a consultation, please fill out the form below or call 0333 600 1234.